10/24/06
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Page 64
Fire and Rescue Training
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Pic courtesy of FSEC
equipment at maximum capacity. These trained personnel should be deployed in a way that ensures that minimum response times can be achieved and that continuous agent application at the appropriate rate can be fully maintained. Consideration should also be given for personnel to use hand lines, ladders and other rescue and firefighting equipment normally associated with aircraft rescue and fire-fighting operations”. ICAO gives guidance on training requirements in Attachment A, Section 16 of the volume, the Airport Services Manual Part 1 and in its Training Manual Part E -2. It is clearly evident that ICAO places considerable emphasis on training, contending that training underpins the effectiveness of the rescue and firefighting service at the scene of an aircraft accident, and goes on to offers guidance on such training, advocating that all rescue and fire-fighting personnel be properly trained. Why is it then that these training requirements do not figure significantly at airports throughout the world, or the interpretation of such requirements differ so markedly from one country to another. ICAO has a judicial function to consider disputes involving the interpretation or applica-
tion of the convention or its annexes. It may impose penalties against a country or airline by way of the withdrawal of voting rights or the imposition of a fine. It also rules on any complaint as to preferential treatment, which may be given to a particular airline. It ensures for example, that entry requirements for one country are applied in the same way to all aircraft entering that country. It harmonises the requirements for the registration of aircraft, equipment and associated operating facilities. However ICAO has no direct power within individual countries, and indeed, countries are not obliged to accept all ICAO requirements, although there is a presumption they will comply unless a notification of exception is filed. In order therefore to ensure that international regulations are applied, each country has its own national aviation executive. For example, in the United Kingdom it is the Civil Aviation Authority; in the USA, the Federal Aviation Administration; in Oman, the Director General of Civil Aviation & Meteorology, and in the UAE (Abu Dhabi), the Department of Civil Aviation. It is evident that International standards and recommended practices for RFFS at aerodromes are generally complied with where there is strong regula-
tion and inspection, usually by a Civil Aviation Authority or similar Government arm which ensures compliance. Compliance is also more judicious and robust if international standards and recommended practices are incorporated into domestic legislation as in the United Kingdom and the United States. This makes the International requirements mandatory in terms of countries meeting their own indigenous legal obligations for aircraft rescue and fire-fighting provision. However, interpretation of international standards by countries and their adoption into domestic legislation can bring about variations in certain aspects of rescue and fire-fighting provision between one country and another although fundamental prerequisites are invariably included. This is altogether another issue for future discussion. In most developed countries aircraft rescue and fire-fighting personnel are trained to international standards and hold certificates of competence at various levels. Normally, in these countries, RFFS personnel are not being allowed to “ride” – form part of the rescue and fire-fighting crew at an aerodrome, without a certificate of competence. In developing countries this is generally not the case where the emphasis is generally on localised training for RFFS personnel. It is usually officers from such countries, who receive training to international standards, predominantly at overseas locations. These officers will then usually become responsible for the training of RFFS personnel. They will have little or no practical training experience, with very limited access to facilities, particularly practical facilities, aircraft simulators, pressure fed fuel fires, a breathing apparatus chamber, firescreen and so on. There is an indisputable gap in the approach to RFFS training and the levels of competence of RFFS personnel in developed and devel-
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